SPAA pushes for further adviser education around SMSFs

The Self-Managed Super Fund Professionals’ Association of Australia (SPAA) will continue pushing for higher standards for financial planners and increasing educational opportunities for fund trustees.

SPAA’s assertion followed comments by Cooper Review chairperson Jeremy Cooper about the high level of competency and financial expertise of self-managed super fund (SMSF) trustees.

SPAA chairperson Sharyn Long said that while the association agreed with Cooper, it would continue to push for higher standards for financial advisers and further education for trustees.

“SPAA is supportive of the Cooper Review’s recommendations for higher competencies for SMSF auditors and advisers and has advocated for this through our contribution to the Cooper Review process and the Future of Financial Advice reform process," Long said.

Long noted that there had been a growing number of advisers applying for and completing accreditation as either a SPAA Specialist Adviser or a SPAA Specialist Auditor, while the association recently launched a SMSF trustee education curriculum guide to encourage education providers and industry practitioners to create and provide SMSF trustee training.

“We believe that as the numbers of funds and member balances grow, more and more trustees will seek to educate themselves about their responsibilities and obligations, many of them encouraged by their advisers,” she said.